An Unforgettable Past
by KittyCatLove123
Summary: Rita Santos was too, once a reckless sixteen year old mermaid - named Aquarita, but the choices she made were'nt easy. The death of her best friend after giving birth to Aquata whom she failed to raise, her leaving of the pod after meeting Harry, the land boy of her dreams. Her grieving for him after his death, her changing of her name and becoming the principal of Suncoast High.
1. Chapter 1

Lyla, Nixie, and Sirena sat down next to Rita on the sofa.

"How old are you, Rita?" Lyla asked.

"Lyla, that's rude!" Sirena hissed.

"Thirty eight." Rita answered, staring at a photograph in her hands.

"Oh. So what was your life like back when you were younger? Like, twenty two years ago?" Nixie asked.

Rita sighed.

"It's a story I've never told anyone." She whispered. "A completely unforgettable past. I wasn't even called Rita Santos then."

FLASHBACK!

"Aquarita, you are officially the slowest sixteen year old mermaid in the whole pod!"

Aquarita rolled her eyes as her best friend Shelly, swam closer to her while the two of them gazed up at Mako Island, their eyes sparkling.

"You have got to learn how to speak dolphin," Aquarita laughed, "Then you'll find excuse to glide instead of race."

"Gosh, Aqua, you know I don't bother paying attention in mermaid school!" Her best friend laughed, splashing Aquarita with her tail.

"You are so gonna flunk the test coming up!" she scoffed. "Anyway, I'm going to be a mermaid school teacher after I get my moon ring."

"So boring!" Shelly shook her head at her friend. "I'll be a member of the mermaid council!"

"You won't if you don't study," Aquarita smiled and ducked under the water. Shelly went after her.

The sun was slowly going down now, and the sky was starting to darken.

"Full moon tonight," Aquarita's mother, Pearl, grinned as Shelly and Aquarita surfaced in the moon pool.

Shelly tossed her wet blond hair and groaned.

"You're not putting us on duty again, are you? We did it last month, and the one before. Make Ness and Sandie do it. They're always slacking off."

Ness, another sixteen year old mermaid, appeared behind Shelly and cleared her throat loudly.

"Um, who here is going on duty?" she asked Pearl with a sweet voice. "So sorry, but Sandie and I have been helping a very sick dolphin out at sea and we won't be able to come to the ceremony tonight!"

She finished with a big fake smile and a flip of her red hair.

"Nope, sorry Ness, but the healer mermaids can take care of that tonight. You and Sandie are on full moon duty, no exceptions."

Ness's face fell and went as red as her hair.

"Fine then. Erm, don't bother about sending the healer mermaids to the dolphin. I um, I think It's better now."

With that, she quickly disappeared into the depths of the moon pool and swam away.

"Excuse maker." Shelly muttered, shooting Aquarita a quick grin.

"Well, it's great we'll be celebrating with the pod this month." Aqua said. "It's really exciting."

Shelly nodded.

That night, the full moon rose up over Mako, just like it always did, and Aquarita, Shelly, Pearl, and three other mermaids named Mia, Kaya and Skylia formed a mermaid ring in the centre of the crowd of mermaids.

The moonlight shone over them and they smiled as the water shimmered in the white light.

"You know," Shelly whispered. "I sometimes wish I could have children."

Aquarita stopped gazing at the moon and turned to her abruptly.

"What? You're only sixteen," she exclaimed. "It could go way wrong. And what are your chances of finding an acceptable merman out there? More than half of them are evil!"

Shelly shook her head.

"Pearl found one and had you," she said quietly. "And so did my mother. So why can't I?"

"Your mother was at least nineteen when she laid your egg." Aqua argued. "And like I said before, you're sixteen. It could hatch like, mutated, or something. And the journey could take years searching the oceans to find the perfect merman."

By now, Pearl, Mia, Kaya and Skylia had broken from the ring and joined another to let the younger mermaids talk.

"This isn't right," Aqua continued. "So many things could happen. You're my best friend. I don't wanna lose you. You have a wonderful life, right here in the pod. You love to sing. You make amazing jewelry with the shells you find out on the reef. What in the world would make you want to leave just to bear a merbaby?"

Shelly bit her lip, and then raised her head and started to sing.

"Going far away, across the sea, this moon keeps haunting me. As I spread my wings, and soar above, it's you, you're guiding me."

Then she turned back to Aqua. "That's the first song I'm going to teach my daughter. And no one's going to stop me, because this is what I want to do. Tomorrow."

Shelly brushed back her moonlight blond hair and swam down into the sparkling depths.


	2. Chapter 2

_**2 years later**_

For the third time that day, Aquarita surfaced the sea surrounding Mako Island and watched out at the blue waves for her long lost friend. It seemed only yesterday that she'd experienced that full moon night when Shelly left her.

Now that Aquarita was eighteen and finished her mermaid training one year ago, she began to wonder if Shelly had even found a merman yet. It was today that suddenly, a familiar head popped up in the waters in the distance.

Another head appeared too, that Aqua didn't recognize. About five minutes later, Shelly surfaced in the water next to her, looking tired and frail, plus older, and she was carrying something big.

"Oh Shelly! I can't believe you made it back!" Aquarita exclaimed, throwing her arms around her best friend in relief.

Shelly sighed. "Me neither. This thing weighs so much more than it looks." An egg. She was holding an egg.

Then, the second head she'd noticed before came up beside them - a merman.

"Aquarita. This is Shark, who I met on my journey." Shelly explained.

Shark gave her a grin with a row of sharp looking teeth, and Aqua was taken aback. Then she saw that Shark was holding another, even bigger mermaid egg.

"Oh, I hope they'll both be girls, so I can sing with them once they grow up." Shelly went on.

**AN: You're probably wondering how the hell mermaids lay eggs. My theory is that the mermaid puts the magic from her moon ring in contact with the merman's powers, (two rays of blue magic shooting out and flashing against each other) and an egg appears. The egg would be probably be as big as a fully grown human baby.**

Shark pointed to the smaller one.

"According to my calculations, this one will be ready to be opened about eight years after the smaller one."

"Aww, that's ages," Shelly pouted.

"But the big one should be ready to hatch in a couple of months or so." He finished.

Aquarita left to go and tell the rest of the pod. She couldn't help wondering what would happen in this crazy future.

**AN: So sorry for such a minuscule chapter! I'm typing this on the school computer and the bell will ring any minute but the next one will be longer I promise!**


End file.
